OCT News and Research

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Bruegger's announces new partnership with Children's Miracle Network

Today Bruegger's Enterprises Inc. announced a new partnership with Children's Miracle Network, a charity that raises funds for 170 children's hospitals throughout North America.

27 Oct 2010

Halting mosquito surveillance can increase management costs of epidemics 300 times

Cutting surveillance for mosquito-borne diseases would likely translate into an exponential increase in both the number of human cases and the health costs when a disease outbreak occurs, according to an analysis by Emory University.

27 Oct 2010

CHI releases new white paper on 510(k) review process

California Healthcare Institute today announced the release of a new white paper titled "Upcoming Changes to the 510(k) Process: New Approval Pathways and the Impact on Medical Device Development and Innovation." CHI is a non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization, representing leading California academic institutions, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical firms.

27 Oct 2010

Guardian examines global food price volatility

Rising food prices and shortages could cause instability in many countries as the cost of staple foods and vegetables reached their highest levels in two years, with scientists predicting further widespread droughts and floods, the Guardian reports in a story examining the significance of rising food prices worldwide.

27 Oct 2010

Older adults with severe sepsis at higher risk for cognitive impairment

Older adults who survive severe sepsis are at higher risk for long-term cognitive impairment and physical limitations than those hospitalized for other reasons, according to researchers from the University of Michigan Health System.

27 Oct 2010

Reactivating three silenced molecules may provide new strategy to treat multiple myeloma

New research links three molecules to a critical tumor suppressor gene that is often turned off in multiple myeloma, a presently incurable cancer of the blood.

27 Oct 2010

Study demonstrates changing levels of nitrite and nitrate in breast milk

Ask someone in the know to list the substances in breast milk that make it the ideal food for newborns and you may hear about proteins that guard against infection, fats that aid in the development of the nervous system and carbohydrates that promote the growth of healthy bacteria. But, you may not hear too much about the nitrite and nitrate in breast milk and their contributions to developing gastrointestinal, immune and cardiovascular systems.

27 Oct 2010

Brain adapts to vision loss by increasing speed of tactile perception

People who are blind from birth are able to detect tactile information faster than people with normal vision, according to a study in the Oct. 27 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

27 Oct 2010

Doctors agree on need to change Medicare pay, but not how

Doctors widely believe that the Medicare payment system is unfair, but they disagree about how to fix it, according to a recent study, MedPage Today reports. "While physicians generally support changing how Medicare reimburses doctors, most don't support payment reforms that would reduce their own incomes, according to survey results published in the Oct. 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

27 Oct 2010

Survey highlights emotional impact of psoriasis on school children

Almost half of children with psoriasis surveyed by the National Psoriasis Foundation report being bullied at least once in the last six months. The Psoriasis Foundation surveyed parents of kids with psoriatic disease and found that 44 percent of children have been bullied by their peers, and 38 percent of kids say the abuse was a direct result of their disease.

26 Oct 2010

Examining genetic material of egg cells may inform about embryos health

Fertility procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) require a couple and the doctor to place the risky bet that the multiple eggs they choose to fertilize will produce an embryo that will thrive in the uterus. Researchers cannot biopsy eggs directly because that would destroy them, but a new discovery by professors at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital could lead to new insights about how eggs develop and ultimately inform judgments about how the embryos they produce will fare. The idea is to examine the genetic material the egg cells discarded when they were first forming, to see which genes they were expressing.

26 Oct 2010

Doctors, nurses and urgent care centers address increasing demand

The (Lynchburg, Va.) News and Advance reports on doctor shortages in Virginia: "Attracting more physicians to the area, and keeping them, is a challenge that has become more urgent. So much so that Centra is in the midst of creating a formal Physician Recruiting Office, where staff will work to convince physicians to consider coming to Lynchburg for their residency or to practice.

26 Oct 2010

Calif. budget comes in the nick of time for health centers; LA. Gov. announces cuts in health care funding

With some California community health centers just weeks or days away from laying off staff or reducing their hours, the state adopted its latest-ever annual budget on Oct. 8.

26 Oct 2010

Safety tips to reduce risk of lead exposure

With more than 2,700 children having elevated blood lead levels in 2009, the Department of Health today reminds parents to test young children for lead exposure, especially during National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Oct. 24-30.

25 Oct 2010

Research Roundup: U.S. life expectancy ratings; Medicare Advantage outlook; Should advanced cancer patients have routine screening tests?

Health Affairs: What Changes In Survival Rates Tell Us About US Health Care -- Proponents of changes in the U.S. health system have often pointed to studies that find health outcomes in this country are worse than other developed nations, even though the United States "spends well over twice the median expenditure of industrialized nations on health care, and far more than any other country as a percentage of its gross domestic product." Others point to high rates of smoking, obesity and traffic fatalities.

25 Oct 2010

NIH awards $3.9M for Fanconi anemia research

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a three-year, $3.9 million grant to Children's Hospital Boston researchers and their colleagues to develop a therapy to treat Fanconi anemia, a fatal genetic blood disease.

25 Oct 2010

Fred Hutchinson Center offers research-based tip sheets for breast cancer survivors

Throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering weekly research-based tip sheets regarding breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment and survivorship.

25 Oct 2010

UCI scientists receive CIRM grants to improve stem cell treatments

UC Irvine scientists will receive grants totaling $9.35 million to help create stem cell treatments for retinitis pigmentosa, Huntington's disease and traumatic brain injury.

25 Oct 2010

Childhood cancer survivors at increased risk of gastrointestinal problems

People treated for cancer when they were children have a higher-than-average risk of gastrointestinal problems - some mild, some quite severe - in the years following treatment, according to a study to be presented at the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) in Boston on Sunday, Oct. 24.

25 Oct 2010

Vancomycin beneficial for managing patients hospitalized with cellulits

Patients admitted to the hospital for the common bacterial skin infection cellulitis should be treated as a first line of defense with the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin rather than other antibiotics such as penicillin, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

25 Oct 2010